Human Nature can be defined as “the ways of thinking, feeling, and acting that are common to most people”. Many people are attracted to compassion and sympathy through the love of a person whom cares very deeply about them. In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the three main characters Robert Walton, Victor Frankenstein and Frankenstein (The Monster) are shown throughout the story, longing and in search for a companion. Throughout the story, the characters struggle with the battle of wanting either sympathy or compassion from a person or both. Mary Shelley shows the true indication of Human Nature by showing the importance of sympathy and compassion through the main character’s desires and pain. Victor Frankenstein had created life with desire of a companion but wanted a sense of love through compassion and sympathy. Victor Frankenstein has lost his mother at a young age and was left with his sister, Elizabeth and his father. Victor had a very keen interest in the sciences and the development from life to death, leading to his creation, Frankenstein. Through the development of his creation, he had felt lonely and was in need of a companion. For example, after Victor had completed the Monster and has seen the final results, he had gone to his friend Clerval to receive a sense of comfort. “But I was in reality very ill; and surely nothing but the unbounded and unremitting attentions of my friend could have restored me to life.” Instead of mocking and pushing him aside, Clerval
The tragic figure in Mary Shelley’s horror novel Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein, is truly an instrument of suffering for his loved ones in his life. Frankenstein’s Creature horrifies Frankenstein and sets off a series of events that corrode his relationships and harm his family and friends; furthermore, Frankenstein’s actions cause the innocent characters to suffer the most, which contributes to the tragic vision of the work as a whole.
Victor Frankenstein grew up in a typical “perfect” family, with loving parents and siblings, of whom he loved, maybe. All of the love surrounding him leads him to decide to place himself in solitude. Victor describes his new house and laboratory ,“In a solitary chamber, or
"A Hermit is simply a person to whom society has failed to adjust itself." (Will Cuppy). In the gothic novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley we follow the life of Victor Frankenstein in 18th century Germany. Shelley displays a recurring theme of isolation and how it drives once good people to do terrible things. If civilization does not adjust itself to a creature of any kind they will be forced into isolation and ultimately self destruction.
Shelley addresses romantic conventions in Victor to convey his loss of identity. Victor is impatient and restless when constructing the creation, so much, that he does not think about it’s future repercussions. One of the great paradoxes that Shelley’s novel depicts is giving the monster more human attributes than to it’s creator [p. 6 - Interpretations]. This is true as the monster seeks an emotional bond, but Victor is terrified of it’s existence. The monster later reveals, “I, the miserable and the abandoned, am an abortion, to be spurred at and kicked and trampled on [Shelley, p. 224].” Victor’s lack of compassion is rooted from the inability to cope with his reality. He distances himself from others and is induced with fainting spells [Shelley, p. 59]. From this, the nameless creature exemplifies Victor’s attempt to abandon his creation to escape his responsibilities. His creation is described as, ‘wretched devil’ and ‘abhorred monster,’ eliciting that the unobtainable, pitied identity [Shelley, p. 102]. The act of not naming the creature reveals Victor as hateful, and unnaturally disconnected to his own created victim.
John Locke is one of the most influential Enlightenment thinkers and is famously known for asserting that all humans have natural rights. He also believed that humans are born with clean slates, and that the environment humans grow in, especially at a young age, has massive influences on aspects of their personalities, ideals, and motivations. Shelley was most definitely influenced by this claim when writing Frankenstein. As the reader, we can see the monster that Victor Frankenstein creates grow up alone, without guidance, and be formed by the experiences it is put through while trying to survive. Its emotions and beliefs throughout the book were merely a result of its experiences as it encounters the harsh reality of the world. Mary
In the beginning of Frankenstein the monster’s “heart was fashioned to be susceptible of love and sympathy,” but due to Victor’s negligence and repugnance of him became a murderer (Shelly 272). The monster desperately wants companionship “He cared for the villagers, next to whom he lived, so much that, to save them the distress of a sudden intrusion,
Victor Frankenstein came from a very loving and caring family. Throughout his childhood, he had all the love and attention a child could ask for. His parents supported him in all of his studies and encouraged him with furthering his education. Frankenstein told Captain Robert Walton that, “No youth could have passed more happily than mine” (Shelley 31). Frankenstein knew that he had a caring family; however, due to his ambitions in pursuing scientific knowledge, he alienated himself from his family and friends. He became so consumed and distracted with his search for knowledge of what constituted as the “principle of life.” Not only does he go two years without visiting his family due to this endeavor, but he also does not notice the seasons as they pass. When Frankenstein finally discovered the secret
In Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, the pursuit of knowledge was weighed against the negative affects such knowledge would have on humanity. Mankind, in all of its glory, was shown to be both virtuous and powerful, as well as condescending and base. The desire to create a superior race of humans led to death and destruction on the behalf of both the monster, and Dr. Victor Frankenstein. Life, and it's worth, were measured against the mental states of Dr. Frankenstein and the monster, as they transitioned from believing to, and looking down upon humanity. The morals and ideas of the monster were reflections of those of his creator, as both evolved to place varying states of importance on the value of natural life.
The following essay is a book review of Frankenstein, which summarizes and evaluates the story. The purpose of this essay is to describe the two important qualities, which are the overview of the plot (including the characters of the book), and the book’s strengths as well as weaknesses. Frankenstein was written by Mary Shelley and is about a young man named Victor who creates his own human through multiple types of science. The novel is about the monster’s journey in understanding where he came from and seeking revenge towards his creator. The main characters involved are Victor, the creator, the monster, Victor’s family members, etc. There are many strengths and weaknesses of the story, some involving what lessons the novel may teach its readers while demonstrating a sense of revenge that is considered “acceptable”.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein begins with a series of letters Captain Robert Walton has written to his sister Margaret Saville. The letters express Walton’s aspirations for his upcoming voyage to the North Pole. Throughout four messages, Walton describes his frustrations and triumphs leading to his impending journey. His most heart wrenching grievance is his inability to find companionship. In each letter, Walton is progressively farther along in his journey, and, in the fourth and final letter, Walton and his men have been trapped in ice for several days when they encounter a stranger stranded at sea. The men welcome the stranger aboard the ship, and Walton personally sees to the man’s recovery. As the two men spend time together, Walton
In the book “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley, demonstrates how nobody likes to feel alone, even hideous creatures like the one Victor Frankenstein created. Throughout the novel, the creature is trying to beloved by anybody that will love him, since Victor abundance him right after he creates him. When the creature goes away, he realizes how lonely and scared he is. During the moments he spent being alone, and observing the cottagers he realizes how he wants somebody to love him in the same way he will love them. The creature demands Frankenstein to make him a mate and at the end Frankenstein destroys the second creature. Leaving the first creation with nobody and having him feel the loneliness once again.
As written in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, knowledge can be seen as dangerous power. This pursuit of wanting to know more can be seen throughout the story including Victor Frankenstein’s view of science and trying to create a human being. Also, his creature’s need to know more about the world around him and his thirst for a companion. This knowledge learned from their personal experiences can then be helpful in guiding Robert Walton with his path of danger as well. All of these factors play a part in discovering why knowledge when misused can be a dangerous tool.
If it walks, if it talks, if it feels, it’s alive. If it can learn, eventually speak, or came about because of another, it’s a person. The Creature of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is no exception. Victor’s creation needs nourishment, education, and morals, which should be provided by it’s creator, it’s parent, just like any other child. The way that needs of an individual are met shapes the outcome of their life. In her novel, Shelley demonstrates this impact that parents have on their child’s life through the contrasting upbringing of Victor and his Creature.
When certain people feel lonely with no support system around them,they often do everything in their power to seek revenge against the person who put them in their lonely state without thinking about the repercussion .In Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein,Victor’s creature is treated with no dignity because of his ugly physical appearance. Since he has not receive any dignity,equity or respect the creature decides to seek revenge. It was common in the eighteenth century for people to be treated unfairly than other people because of their different physical appearance. This basic idea of inequality is shown through the text Frankenstein. Frankenstein maintains its relevancy to a modern audience through its powerful themes.These themes include the need of companionship, appearances vs reality and the consequences of revenge.
Introduction: Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” is a book with a deep message that touches to the very heart. This message implies that the reader will not see the story only from the perspective of the narrator but also reveal numerous hidden opinions and form a personal interpretation of the novel. One of its primary statements is that no one is born a monster and a “monster” is created throughout socialization, and the process of socialization starts from the contact with the “creator”. It is Victor Frankenstein that could not take the responsibility for his creature and was not able to take care of his “child”. Pride and vanity were the qualities that directed Victor Frankenstein to his discovery of life: “...So much has been done, exclaimed the soul of Frankenstein-more, far more, will I achieve: treading in the steps already marked, I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation”[p.47]. He could not cope with this discovery and simply ignored it. The tragedy of Victor Frankenstein and the tragedy of his creature is the same – it is the tragedy of loneliness and confronting the world, trying to find a place in it and deserve someone’s love. The creature would have never become a monster if it got the love it strived for. Victor Frankenstein would have never converted his creature into a monster if he knew how to love and take responsibility for the ones we bring to this world.